Commission earmarks �3.2 million for surveillance studies on honeybee colony losses

The aim is to close the knowledge gap and gain a better understanding of the extent of the problem as well as the reasons for the honeybee colony losses. 17 projects submitted by Member States have been selected. The studies will be co-financed by the Commission at the rate of 70 % of eligible costs for the period 1 April 2012 to 30 June 2013 for the following Member States: Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

A Commission Communication on honeybee health gives an overview of the Commission’s actions already undertaken and ongoing as regards honeybee health in the EU which include the appointment of an EU reference laboratory for bee health, training for Member States officers on bee health under the Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF) programmes, several research projects and financial contribution to the national apiculture programmes. The communication highlights the fact that the increased mortality of bees has been observed worldwide. In 2009 the EFSA project ‘Bee mortality and bee surveillance in Europe’ concluded that the surveillance systems in the EU are, in general, weak and that there is a lack of data at Member States level and a lack of comparable data at EU level. In order to improve the availability of data on bee mortality the Commission deemed appropriate to assist and support certain surveillance studies in Member States on honeybee losses. For more information on bee health: http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/liveanimals/bees/index_en.htm .